This report concerns allegations of sexual abuse and other sexual misconduct that took place in the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan.
The 56 entries on the list in this report includes 48 priests, three religious brothers, an apparent former religious brother, and four deacons.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel commented on the importance of these reports about the Catholic Church:
These reports are important, not just because we made a promise to the survivors years ago, but because victims, especially in cases like these where the assaults were perpetrated by entrusted members of a community, are often silenced – in some cases for decades or a lifetime,” Nessel said. “By publishing these reports, we are sharing their stories and validating their experiences. Criminal prosecutions are just one accountability metric. Ensuring each victim is heard, regardless of how long ago the sexual abuse and misconduct may have been, is important in acknowledging their pain and fostering a culture that prioritizes these victims over their silence.
Contrast this with the disregard of survivors of child sex rings whose information could have been of value in the resolution of the OCCK case, who have been silenced by decades of disbelief, apathy, and cruel indifference. They were disbelieved, discounted, written off–and that’s if someone in law enforcement even returned their phone calls. It will be five years in January that I put Dana Nessel and Karen McDonald on notice of these survivors who have never been heard or who were improperly disregarded.
It is important that these “men of God” in and connected with the Catholic Church are being exposed, and the survivors of these monsters being heard. Note that the AG’s press release notes that her office prosecuted Gary Berthiaume, a sex offender who was operating in Oakland County during the time of the OCCK crimes:
People v. Gary Berthiaume – Berthiaume, a priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Wyandotte and later Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, was sentenced to 17 months to 15 years’ incarceration on two counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and one count of Gross Indecency in January 2022. Berthiaume pled guilty to the CSC charges and no contest to the gross indecency in 2021. Berthiaume sexually abused three children between the ages of 13 and 15 in the 1970s. He was arrested in 1977 for sexual assault of two other minor children and served time in the Oakland County Jail for these crimes, before being transferred by the church to the Diocese of Cleveland.
A survivor of Berthiaume’s sex crimes in Cleveland, who received a rare and probably very insufficient monetary settlement from the Catholic Church, called me after he traveled to Michigan for Berthiaume’s sentencing. He told me, and I believe him implicitly, that this man is straight up evil. That he “coordinated” with other priests. I watched Berthiaume’s rambling lies on news video of his sentencing. As I recall, his attorney couldn’t sing Berthiaume’s praises enough. Just a stand-up guy. I’m guessing Berthiaume is out of prison after his very short sentence–maybe he can babysit for your kids or grandkids, pal?
Another notorious and prolific pedophile who was prosecuted by AG Nessel was Gary Jacobs, who was active in the Upper Peninsula, which we have learned over the years had it’s own very organized and active pedophile ring:
People v. Gary Jacobs – Jacobs, a priest in the Diocese of Marquette active in Dickinson and Ontonagon Counties, was sentenced to 8-15 years’ incarceration on three counts of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and two counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. Jacobs pled guilty to each count, admitting to abusing five children under the age of 16 in the Upper Peninsula during the 1980s. In total, there were 11 complaints of abuse by children against Jacobs.
Pedophile priests and their enablers have given the Michigan AG’s clergy abuse team years and years’ worth of work. There will be three more reports and hopefully more prosecutions (and sentences of over one year–I don’t care how old these men are).
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